In this week’s Motion Motorsports Report, Dave Mathers celebrates Kyle Steckly on his big win in Indiana, and recaps the Toronto Indy, NASCAR Canada Series in Saskatoon and much more.
Kyle Steckly won the Redbud 400, an ASA All Stars series touring race, at Anderson Speedway, Indiana on Saturday night. The track is a high-banked, 1/4 mile and is very fast. Maritime driver Cole Butcher was 7th after starting from the pole.
More news from the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Ford EV Supervan, overall winner of the recent Pikes Peak Hill Climb, won the Goodwood Hill Climb Shootout with a time of 43.978 seconds on the 1.16-mile track.
And an update on the Scott Maxwell ‘incident’ last week at Goodwood when the Lotus Evija X EV prototype he was driving only went about 20 meters before turning the car into the hay bales. Apparently, the rear wheels were spinning at 170 miles per hour and the front tires were moving at 150 mph. Oops! I guess they rear wanted to pass the front and we know the outcome.
Super spotter Joe Chisholm and super duper spotter Jeff Gotelaer commented on the ill-conceived ‘choose cone’ process employed by one of the local sanctioning bodies. NASCAR did away with the cones and instead, wisely, painted an arrow on the track. This eliminates a track worker going onto a live track. I fully agree with both of them. A template and a can of spray paint will solve the problem.
Apparently even the ‘racing gods’ are mad at NASCAR for demolishing Auto Club (California) Speedway. A crane reportedly collapsed during the work. Rumours have it that it was toppled by the ghosts of Big Bill France and Dale Earnhart, Sr.!!
We hear, on a regular basis, of stock cars racing on road courses. Seldom, if ever, do we hear about sports cars racing on a stock car oval. Martinsville Speedway is running the ‘Virginia is for Racing Lovers’ 300 on October 26. The race will include 200 laps for the bad fast Whelen NASCAR Modifieds plus a 100-lap race for the Whelen Mazda MX5s. Yup, Miatas at Martinsville!!
How cool was it to see the image of WNBA star Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever on the hood of Josh Berry’s Mustang at Indy? Officials had hoped to have her at the race, but she was too busy with the WNBA All Star Game Weekend in Phoenix and she couldn’t make it. Thus, Berry’s sponsor Panini elected to place the decal on the hood in place of their own logo. Classy move.
I’ve said this before, but it has to be said again. How can NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Truck have the very best Live Timing of ALL the sanctioning bodies yet allow their ‘country cousin’ NASCAR Canada to have absolutely the worst Live Timing of all? I watch every race and use the Live Timing feature to make the broadcasts better. But, hey ‘we’re working on it’!!
One of the best stories from Delaware Speedway, this year, told of Joe Kicks driver of the Wonder Bread Bone Stocker. Their paint job is a clone of the ‘Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby’ car of the film starring Will Ferrell.
Joe and his crew chief flew to Costa Rica over the winter and they both wore drivers suits. Joe stuck his head into the cockpit and told the captain if they wanted, he could get the plane going faster.
The pilot, without looking, told him they had to get out of there but then heard the co-pilot laughing and turned soon joining into the laughter. Even the Costa Rica customs officials who, believe me, are ALL serious, laughed as well. Good stuff!!
It’s hard to believe that this is the 38th year for the Toronto IndyCar race (they skipped one year). I was a guest of the Toronto Sun for the first one and have attended several times since. Great venue but the track, not so much. They still stack them up at the end of the Lakeshore Drive straight.
GRAND BEND MOTORPLEX: Their next race is the WDRA Canadian Nationals, Saturday & Sunday, August 3 & 4.
OYSTER BED SPEEDWAY: Upcoming events at the PEI short track oval include a visit by the Maritime Pro Stock Tour (as well as the Outlaw Super Series) this coming Saturday and the Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series on Saturday, August 3. The Hot Rod Classics and Mini Stock Super Series will also be on the card on Aug. 3.
NASCAR CANADA SERIES: In qualifying for the Leland Industries 250 at Sutherland Automotive Raceway in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Saturday points leader Marc-Antoine Camirand nabbed the pole over Kevin Lacroix and Andrew Ranger. There were 14 entries.
AND the 250 lap race showed as 100 laps on their Live Timing, switching to 101 of 101, 102 of 102, etc.!! Wow. And I couldn’t find it on Race Monitor for REAL Live Timing. At the halfway mark (125/125 on the screen) it was Ranger, Camirand, Kevin Lacroix and two St. Thomas boys Jason Hathaway and D.J. Kennington.
At the flag it was Camirand over Lacroix, Ranger, L.P. DuMoulin and Hathaway.
In the points Camirand leads Ranger by 7 and Lacroix by 16.
Their next race is at Edmonton International Raceway (EIR) this coming Saturday.
TORONTO MOTORSPORTS PARK: TMP will feature its regular racing program this coming weekend. Beyond that, tickets are now available for the Labour Day Weekend Spectacular at TMP!
LAIRD INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY: The Sault Ste. Marie short track returns to action this Thursday night for a full card of Thursday Night Thunder action featuring all five of its regular weekly divisions, the Service Rentals and Sales Super Late Models, the NAPA Reyco Automotive Modifieds, the Lakeway Automotive Factory Stocks, the Northland Autobody Factory Fours and the AIM Recycling Enduros.
Looking ahead to big events at Laird, The Mike Parsons Memorial takes place August 24 and 25.
FLAMBORO SPEEDWAY: Their next race is the Pro Late Models and Spectator Drags this Saturday.
UNITED RACING SERIES – APC LATE MODEL SERIES: Their next race is at Sauble, Saturday, August 3.
DELAWARE SPEEDWAY: Forty-six Bone Stocks showed up to do battle last Friday night at the track. Jessy Howard won Heat 1, Daniel Mailloux won Heat 2 and Derek Moesker won Heat 3. The B Main was won by Colin Willems. The feature, 36 cars, was won by Mailloux, his first feature win, over Jason Craig, Moesker, Matt Langford and Willems.
In the V/8 Stocks Heat 1 was won by Mike ‘Hollywood’ Hryniuk (I gave him that nickname almost 35 years ago when we raced CASCAR together) who had ‘stolen’ his son Michael, Jr’s car while he was in Nashville. Heat 2 went to Steve McCaw.
Hollywood lead every lap to win the main, his first feature win in 30 years, running a string of 21.10s and 21.20s with his quickest being a 21.139 (21.10 is the breakout time). He was followed by ‘Bang On His Bumper’ Barry Watson, Doug Stewart, Jordan Morris and McCaw.
The Late Models used Group Qualifying with Lloyd Rawlings quick in Q1 at 19.214, Patrick Freel fastest in Q2 with a 19.043 and Marshall Schrenk tops in Q3 at 18.748. Schrenk went on to win the 75 lapper in a very tight battle with Ray Morneau, J.R. Fitzpatrick, Gary Adriaensen and Ron Beauchamp, Jr.
Their next race is Friday and Saturday – Monster Truck Throwdown.
CASC-OR: CASC-OR returns to action July 27-28 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with the BARC Canadian Touring Trophy Races. It will be the season’s third event and will feature the new Miata Canada Cup, the Toyo Tires F1600 Series, the Pirelli Super and Grand Touring divisions, VARAC and more.
NASCAR CUP SERIES: Qualifying for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway saw Tyler Reddick pick up the pole ahead of Denny Hamlin, both in Toyotas, and Chase Elliott (Chev). 39 cars.
Unlike the Indy cars in Toronto, the Cup cars played nicely at Indy, at least for the first stage won by Denny Hamlin. On lap 70 Cody Ware lost the complete tire for a yellow. Meanwhile Joey Logano was trying to pass NASCAR’s ‘Chosen One’ Bubba Wallace and Bubba blocked him twice. So much for his promise to ‘do better’!!
On lap 74 a nasty crash on Corner 2 exit with William Byron and A.J. Allmendinger spinning down into the inside wall. Bubba Wallace won Stage 2 for his first stage win since 2022. On lap 104 it appeared that Martin Truex blew a left rear tear and he hit the outside wall on Corner 4 exit.
Josh Berry hit the wall as well after contact with Ty Gibbs. On lap 110 Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson both got put into the wall after Carson Hocevar tried to go three wide up the middle. Not smart.
On lap 124 Truex spun into the wall again due to a flat left rear tire. On lap 158 the brutal season for Kyle Busch continued. He spun from 6th and hit the wall after trying to stay off the outside car of Denny Hamlin. NASCAR overtime!! Caution – John Hunter Nemechek, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Hemric and Alex Bowman all wreck on the restart going into one. Red flag for cleanup. Rerack and try again.
At the flag (yellow & checker) it was Larson for the win over Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney. Chev, Toyota, Ford. Larson leads Elliott in the points by 4 and Reddick by 15.
Their next race is Richmond, Sunday, August 11 – Olympics break by NASCAR.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: Points leader Cole Custer won the pole for the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday ahead of Riley Herbst (both in Fords) and Aric Almirola (Toyota). 38 cars.
It didn’t take long for trouble to occur. Sam Mayer spun on lap 1 and collected about 12 cars for the first caution. On lap 16 Chandler Smith, one of the lap 1 victims and wearing a LOT of front end tape, slowed and stopped on track stating he lost full pressure bringing out the yellow. Herbst won Stage 1.
On lap 55 the yellow came back out for Brennan Poole who was smoking badly in corner 2. It was reported it was a power steering hose failure. (shades of Cale Yarborough coming out of corner 4 leading at Darlington when Bill Elliott passed him and went on to win the initial Winston Million in 1985. We all thought it was an engine). Ryan Sieg won Stage 2.
On lap 67 Almirola, running 7th, spun in 2 with a little help from Austin Hill but didn’t hit anything or anybody. Yellow. On lap 84 Daniel Dye appeared to run Anthony Alfredo up the track and into the wall. Alfredo slowed and got hit by Parker Retzlaff who then got hit by Josh Williams. Big mess.
Business picked up on the final lap with a lot of passing for the lead. At the flag it was Herbst winning over Custer and Almirola. Kiwi Shane Van Gisbergen finished a close 4th. In the points Custer leads Justin Allgaier by 56 and Austin Hill by 87.
Their next race is MIS, Saturday, August 17 – Olympics break by NASCAR.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS: In qualifying for the Tsport 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park, home of the NHRA Nationals since 1962, Rajah Caruth won the pole over Grant Enfinger and Tyler Ankrum (all in Chevs). Canadian Stewart Friesen (Toyota) qualified 8th. 35 trucks.
On lap 43 Ty Dillon spun in 3 for the first caution after possible contact with Mason Massey. Christian Eckes won Stage 1. On lap 87 both Corey Heim and IndyCar driver Conor Daly had problems for the second race caution. Eckes also won Stage 2. Stage 3 went caution free with Ty Majeski (Ford) picking up the win over Eckes and Enfinger.
In the points Eckes has a stout 50 point lead on Heim and 135 on Majeski. Friesen sits 12th.
Their next race is Richmond, Friday, August 10 – Olympics break by NASCAR.
FORMULA ONE: During FP2 on Friday Charles Leclerc hit the wall hard in 4 to bring out a red flag but he still qualified 6th. In qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix in front of a sold-out house the bad luck for Red Bull driver Sergio Perez continued as he stuffed it into the tire wall backwards coming out of corner 7 during Q1.
George Russell earlier had a similar moment in the same spot but kept it off the wall. Damp track? Another driver ‘at risk’ Daniel Ricciardo topped Q1. Lando Norris was quickest in Q2. In Q3 Yuki Tsunoda had an off bringing out a red flag. Lando Norris and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri will start 1, 2 with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen 3rd. Canadian Lance Stroll qualified 8th.
Right off the start there was controversy. Piastri got a better start than Norris while Max was making it three-wide into 1. Max went off the track and came back out 2nd. Race control ordered him to give the spot back to Norris.
MUCH whining over his radio ensued!! And that mewling continued for the entire race. I guess Max doesn’t like running 4th!!! And he blames the crew and the car rather than his driving? Really? Then he complained about Hamilton.
On lap 63 Max tried a ‘Hail Mary’ pass on Lewis that failed when he realized he was going too fast for the corner and locked up his tires. Hamilton watched as Max bounced off track right in front of him after hitting his Mercedes right front tire. That dropped Max to 5th behind Leclerc. I can hardly wait for Jos to spout off and blame it all on Horner!!!
AND in typical F1 fashion, ‘the stewards will be investigating the Verstappen/Hamilton incident after the race’!! With two laps to go Norris slowed in the lead to allow teammate Piastri to take the lead. Team orders in F1? Unheard of. And Max has been issued a penalty? Good.
At the flag it was Piastri, Norris, Hamilton, Leclerc and Max who, incidentally, was summoned to the principal’s office post-race! Two drivers who basically started from the parking lot, Perez and Russell, rebounded to finish 7th and 8th. And Stroll finished 10th one spot ahead of teammate Alonso. It was really cool to hear the Australian National Anthem followed by God Save the King. Good stuff!!
In the Drivers’ Championship, Verstappen’s lead has been reduced as he leads Norris by 76 and Leclerc by 103.
In the Constructors’ Championship Red Bull leads McLaren by a much tighter 51 and Ferrari by 67.
Their next race is Spa, Sunday at 8.55 on TSN 1 & 5.
INDYCAR: Colton Herta won the pole for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto ahead of Kyle Kirkwood and Felix Rosenqvist. 27 cars. Alexander Rossi spanked the Corner 8 wall hard enough Friday to break his right thumb taking him out of the car for the weekend. He was replaced by Theo Pourchaire who qualified 26th.
Yellow on the first lap as Santino Ferruci tagged the wall losing the nose and Christian Rasmussen got shoved wide in 2 stopping against the wall. They were running three and four wide on the start.
On lap 5 Augustin Canapino got drop kicked into the inside wall for another caution. At the halfway mark it was Herta still out front over Kirkwood and Newgarten. On lap 67 Kyffin Simpson overcooked corner entry and hit the wall for a yellow. Oh, wow, with 13 laps to go the Big One happened collecting about one third of the cars.
Pato O’Ward started things by spinning on corner exit and then the cars kept piling in on him. Red flag. Santucci actually flew over one of the cars and into the air bouncing off the catch fencing. Red flag. Santucci actually flew over one of the cars and into the air bouncing off the catch fencing and ended up upside down on the track. I counted at least six cars getting involved. Carnage.
Two laps after the restart Scott McLaughlin got into the wall in 5 after a tap from Will Power for another yellow. Power was penalized by Race Control. They played nicely for the rest of the race and Herta picked up the dominant win over Kirkwood and Scott Dixon. Only 15 cars were running at the end. In the points Alex Palou leads Power by 49 and Dixon by 53.
Their next race is Gateway, Sunday, August 17.
IMSA: Their next race is Road America, Sunday, August 4.
NHRA: The series headed to Seattle on their ‘western swing’ for the Northwest Nationals.
Top Fuel – Steve Torrence topped the 14 entries with a 3.688 in qualifying. He marched through the field taking out Shawn Langdon in the final with a 3.963. 6 upsets (lower qualified car wins) and 3 smokers (one or both cars lost traction). Doug Kalitta continues to lead the points by 134 over Justin Ashley and by 136 over Shawn Langdon.
Funny Car – no surprise here as Austin Prock topped the 15 cars with a 3.838. And Prock also marched through the field beating Paul Lee in the final with a 3.875. 4 upsets and 6 smokers. Prock leads Bob Tasca by 178 and Matt Hagan by 181.
Pro Stock – Erica Enders ran a 6.500 to lead the 17 entries. Canada’s Eric Latino qualified a really stout 2nd at a 6.518 while fellow Canuck Sienna Wildgust qualified 15th in one of the Cuadra Family Camaros at 6.583. And what are the odds the only two Canadians would face each other in round one? Jeg Caughlin, Jr. took out Dallas Glenn in the final running a 6.536. 8 upsets. Glenn leads Greg Anderson by 89 and Enders by 120.
Pro Stock Bike – and in another ‘no surprise’ Gaige Herrera was number 1 with a 6.734 over the 12 bikes. Chase Van Sant took out Herrera in the final with a 6.720. 3 upsets. Herrera leads Matt Smith by 271 and Richard Gadson by 296.
Their next race is Sears Point, Sunday at 4 P.M. on Fox Sports Racing.
IROC: The team of Andy Lally and Brent Crews won the inaugural (and only??) SpeedTour All Star Race at Lime Rock Park on Saturday over the duo of Bobby Labonte and Thomas Merrill with Ryan Newman and Thomas Annunziata 3rd. The first four finishers were in Fords. 19 two man teams took part in the event. In qualifying Heat 1 Scott Speed beat Lally and Paul Menard while Annunziata won Heat 2 ahead of Merrill and Crews. No further races scheduled this year so far.
ONTARIO SPORTSMAN SERIES: Their next race is at Peterborough, Friday, July 27.
OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY: Their next race is this Friday night.
FULL THROTTLE MOTOR SPEEDWAY: Their next race is Regular Racing, Saturday.
GRAND BEND SPEEDWAY: Their next race is Home Track classes + Touring Series, Saturday.
PMRA: Their next event is August 15 – 17 with Pro Mods, Quick 32 Sportsman Series & Pro Bike & Sled Series, Empire Dragway.
660 SPORTSMAN NATIONALS: Their next race is Grand Bend, August 16 – 18.
SHANNONVILLE DRAGS: Their next race is August 17 & 18.
ST. THOMAS DRAGWAY: Their next race is the CanAm Stock/Superstock, ONDR and Chatham Kent Saturday and Sunday, August 3 & 4.
Any comments can be sent to Dave Mathers via email at motionman@rogers.com or by Facebook Messenger.
